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Question of smallpox vaccine liability remains

Last Updated: 2002-12-13 10:01:12 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Maggie Fox

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Close to a million Americans are about to be vaccinated against smallpox starting in the next few weeks under a plan to be laid out later on Friday by President Bush.

Past experience suggests that one to two people are likely to die as a result, and another dozen or more will be hospitalized, because the vaccine uses outdated and crude technology.

The first 500,000 people vaccinated will be military personnel, taken care of by the Department of Defense health system. But what about the half a million civilian health workers who will volunteer to be the first?

The Homeland Security Act passed in November protects the smallpox vaccine makers and the hospitals and staff who would administer it from lawsuits.

This is in keeping with current laws on childhood vaccines--the idea being that no one would make or give vaccines if they risked being sued by everyone who had a side effect.

For childhood vaccines there is a fund, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund, that pays out to children and their families if they are seriously hurt by a vaccine.

But there is no provision for anyone who becomes disabled because of the smallpox vaccine, or for the families of anyone who may die. Under the terms of the act, they will have to sue the government and prove not only that they were injured, but that negligence was involved.

This has raised the concern of the Service Employees International Union, which represents 1.5 million health care workers.

VOLUNTEERS SHOULD NOT SUFFER

"People who volunteer to receive the vaccine should not face loss of income if they cannot work as a result," the SEIU said in a statement.

"The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) estimates that approximately 30 percent of those who are vaccinated will feel too sick to work and provide proper patient care for one or more days. Roughly 10 percent could have a serious reaction," it added.

"A simple and fair compensation system--like the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund--should be made available to assist anyone who is injured from receiving the vaccine or coming into contact with someone who received it."

The House of Delegates of the American Medical Association, which represents 300,000 doctors, voted on Tuesday to ask that a federal liability program be in place before vaccination starts.

The government is aware of the problem, said Jerome Hauer, assistant secretary at the Health and Human Services Department and an expert on emergency preparedness.

"We looked at the liability issue--it is clearly a key component of this program," he told reporters in a recent briefing. "I hope to get that resolved in the very near future."

The Infectious Diseases Society of America opposes widespread vaccination. "Many infectious disease physicians are concerned that immunizing the general public now, in the absence of known disease, will put persons receiving the vaccine at unnecessary risk of adverse reactions," the group said in a statement.

Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited. Click for Restrictions.
 

Published on: 12/13/2002
Updated on: 12/13/2002

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ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.